SUSAN MADDUX

Influenced by her childhood in the lush valleys of Oahu, Hawaii, as well as her Japanese and European family heritage, Susan Maddux creates painted sculptural works made from folded canvases. Reminiscent of kimonos, kabuki makeup, Navajo blankets, and Renaissance altarpieces, Maddux’s work starts with sketches and is guided by her own intuition. Each canvas is painted while lying flat on the ground. They are then folded and combined together to create undulating waves of color upwards of seven-feet tall. Inspired by the landscapes of Hawaii and California, color plays a vital role in Maddux’s work. “The colors of the tropics are unapologetically vibrant on one hand and incredibly subtle and nuanced on the other, and I am constantly inspired by the quality of the light,” Maddux says. Trained in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, Maddux designed textiles for top fashion houses before devoting herself to her art practice in 2013. Currently based in Los Angeles, Maddux tries to let go of control when she’s making her artwork. “There is a lot of room for things to change, which they do,” she says. “Until I feel I don’t want them to be any other way, ever.”